Arizona State Retirement System Sells 67 Shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,129 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $6,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $17,949,000. SPC Financial Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 2,949 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 810 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Darden Restaurants during the 4th quarter valued at $416,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,750,658 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $700,210,000 after purchasing an additional 170,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In related news, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 9,264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.68, for a total value of $1,710,875.52. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,433.56. This trade represents a 66.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Rajesh Vennam sold 7,228 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.71, for a total transaction of $1,313,399.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,262 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,708.02. This represents a 41.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 52,926 shares of company stock valued at $9,850,129 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Darden Restaurants Price Performance

NYSE DRI opened at $195.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.87 and a 52 week high of $203.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.90.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The restaurant operator reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03. Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 50.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Darden Restaurants Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Darden Restaurants’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $209.00 to $206.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $195.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.52.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.